17 June 2008

Work simply got in the way. Fatigue kept me from playing much last weekend. There are a ton of other reasons.

Yes, when you juggle your guitar playing around life's other priorities the "lost week" is an easy problem to fall upon. I have passed a good number of lost weeks in my time, and I'm sure I'll have some more to come (no sign of me winning the lottery anytime soon ;-)

But there are ways to help avoid the lost week, or at least lose a bit less when it does happen. Here's my secret weapon.

Every Day I Have The Blues

I forget where I picked this tip up from somewhere in the murky, unrecorded history of my guitar learning. But I do know that it is a great way to keep up a minimum of guitar activity, even in those weeks when everything else seems to rush by and your practice plans fall by the wayside.

It's really simple, just pick up your guitar first thing in the morning and play something. Do it before breakfast, before dressing, going to work or anything else.

Just pick up your guitar and do it, even for just five minutes. Even when you hit one of those busy weeks with work deadlines, kids, shopping and the house to look after, you can make a little progress on your skills every day.

Boost Your Enthusiasm

Pick up your guitar every day like this, even for just a few minutes and you'll get a little boost . It never fails to keep up my enthusiasm. The other great thing is that if you prod your mind with guitar problems like this every day it will work on them for you in the background. You will find that without consciously practicing you still solve some of them and get a little better.

What about you? Do you have any tricks or tips for getting over those "lost weeks"? Please share them in the comments on this post.

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